High street footfall shows signs of improvement but consumer confidence ‘yet to turn a corner’

Yorkshire and the Humber had the third highest levels of year-on-year footfall growth for all UK regions, with footfall growing 0.8 per cent in March. This compares to a drop of 1.4 per cent in February.

Leeds held the highest percentage of footfall growth out of all Yorkshire and The Humber cities, with a rise of 3.8 per cent. This compares to growth of 1.3 per cent the month prior.

Nations of the UK were split in their overall footfall traffic, with Northern Ireland and Wales increasing traffic year-on-year, while England and Scotland had lower traffic year-on-year.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Overall UK footfall declined in March as the wet weather kept shoppers indoors. Northern Ireland and Wales bucked the trend while shopping centres across the UK also saw a year-on-year increase in footfall, primarily driven by the start of the school holidays.

“The early Easter meant footfall rose across the UK in the final week of March, particularly in English cities such as Birmingham and Liverpool, but this was not enough to reverse the overall decline over the course of the month.

“As we draw closer to a general election, these figures highlight how vital it is for all parties to include a clear and comprehensive plan for growth in their manifestos. As the everywhere economy, retail serves all of us, providing the products we need as well as local jobs and investment. Instead of imposing burdensome costs on the industry, parties should focus on reforming business taxes and improving planning policy to help put life back into communities up and down the country.”

High street footfall in the UK decreased 1.5 per cent, up from a fall of 9.3 per cent in February. Footfall in retail parks decreased 3.5 per cent, up from a 5.8 per cent drop the month prior.

Shopping centres saw a small rise in footfall, with the figure growing 0.3 per cent. This compares to a drop of 7 per cent in February.

The new figures come from the BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor, covering the 25 February 2024 to the 30 March 2024.

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said: “An early, high-performing Easter helped put a spring in shoppers’ steps and this, combined with a boost from Mother’s Day and ambient store visits from school holidays, drove up shopper traffic numbers in March to improve on what was a rather muted footfall performance in February.

“While retailers will have welcomed the seasonal uplift in store visits last month, the choppy nature of footfall recovery we’ve seen over the past few months indicates that consumer confidence is yet to fully turn a corner, meaning we may see a bumpy recovery in shopper traffic in the months ahead.”